As a resource center in southern China's Jiangxi Rare Earth City, in the mining process because there were serious extensive use of resources, environmental pollution, and the coveted foreign infiltration blamed.
To this end, the governor of Jiangxi Province made a special trip Wu Xinxiong December 2 to Ganzhou, research, and held the situation of rare earth mineral resources, improvement forum. He called rare earth resources in Ganzhou to speed up the pace of integration, greater efforts to protect the ecological environment to further enhance the exploitation, utilization and processing level, extend the industrial chain and increase added value.
In fact, after the integration of rare earth resources in Ganzhou has great action. November 8, almost the entire status of Ganzhou Rare Earth industry who are subject to slight the invitation. They came to this city only a five-star hotel, a foreign company to observe the celebration.
This day Baotou Steel Rare Earth (600,111) for the earlier acquisition of three separate smelting enterprises Ganzhou Rare Earth held a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the same time, the company announced the Baotou Rare Earth International Trade opened a branch in Ganzhou.
This is not a simple acquisition. For the Ganzhou City is concerned, they want to do is to be formed of rare earth has been extending to the downstream industry, improve its processing ability, change the status of over-reliance on resource development.
Rare Earth Industry in China, the territory in Ganzhou is trying to find the location of its new, which is rare earth in China in the international market, a microcosm of the repositioning.
Quotas reduced pressure
"We won the 2010 quota of 7,480 tons mined." Ganzhou Xu Xinfeng, deputy director of Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources, told reporters. In 2009, the quota system is over 8400 tons. Ganzhou is the first face of the legitimate exploitation of a pressure reduction in the quota.
Since 2006, the Ministry will be the exploitation of the national quota of rare earth minerals management, a move to change the over-exploitation of rare earth minerals, vicious competition to sell off the resources brought by the situation.
Based on the different varieties of rare earth mine, the quotas are divided into light rare earths and the heavy rare earth types. As the southern city of rare earth, affecting mainly the Ganzhou quota of heavy rare earth distribution of the total amount of this quota is 12,200 tons in 2010 (total rare earth oxides), Ganzhou of 7480 tons which accounted for most of the quota.
But is not the sole owner of Ganzhou heavy rare earth mineral resources in the region. Such distribution of mineral resources in southern China very broad, covering Jiangxi, Guangdong, Fujian, Hunan, Guangxi Province, 5 of 15 cities. In a recent exploration, the Hubei Province, has become a rich rare-earth mineral deposits in areas of heavy. In addition there are a small distribution in Yunnan Province.
Mining Land and Resources issued the quota allocation table, the specific allocation of 8,500 tons of Jiangxi, Fujian, 1,500 tons, 2,000 tons of Guangdong, Yunnan, 200 tons. Hunan, Guangxi is not assigned to the heavy rare earth mining quotas.
Ganzhou has been able to get such a high quota, mainly because of its earlier industrial development, and has formed a system. Ganzhou Rare Earth industry has decades of development history, the current total of 88 Ganzhou Rare Earth Mining warrants, in contrast, only 4 of the entire Guangdong Province, the mining of rare earth warrants.
"According to the proved reserves of public view, Ganzhou heavy rare earth resources in the country accounted for 60% -70%, but its exploitation has accounted for more than 70% of the country." Xu Xinfeng said.
This situation clearly can not last long, in 2010, the Ministry for the rare earth mineral exploitation of the special rectification work directly contributed to the rise in resource prices, and some had no legal mining permit areas, they have to apply for a new Ministry of Land the mining permit.
If the exploitation of land and resources to maintain the existing quota size, and there are more and more areas to the development of rare earth resources, it is only one result, a further reduction of the quota Ganzhou, which for the Ganzhou Rare Earth Industry in terms of an existing, perhaps will bring disastrous results.
According to data provided by Xu Xinfeng, compared to an annual quota of seven to eight tons of mining, the city of Ganzhou separation of rare earth ore smelting capacity has reached 2 million tons and the gap is huge.
Blocked the illegal mining of "heresy"
Huge gap can only be used to fill the rest of the resources, the degree of spread of the surrounding areas for potential illegal source.
"In all likelihood around the illegal mining of Ganzhou people." Ganzhou in rare earth separation, a small business owner, told reporters.
However, the order of rare earth mining has given way to this special work to fill vacancies in Ganzhou, a source of rare earth smelting enterprises tend to cut off, and every indication that this will become a normality.
"As early as two years, we have a lot of people around the Guangdong Heyuan, Qingyuan side of mining, are illegal mining, this control was quite strict, are turning back." The small business owners said.
This reporter learned that, by the end of October Wing County, Sanming City in Fujian at the meeting, including Ganzhou 5 provinces, including southern city government has 15 rare-earth mineral exploration for mining access, mining and transportation sales monitoring program, mining companies the formation of the Alliance for the draft and other documents. Chenzhou in Hunan, and the forthcoming meeting Hezhou, will determine the final program.
By then, the entire south of rare earth resources, mining, transportation and sales will form a network. "Mine came out of a group of rare earth ore, quantity, quality relative to how and finally transported to where to go, must be strictly monitored." Participated in the meeting of a local government official told reporters.
If the system is ultimately implemented, will be to curb illegal mining, while a large number of rare earth smelting Ganzhou enterprises will lose an important source. Then to maintain business operations, their only way is through legal means movement of the surrounding provinces and cities to buy.
The question is, what the local resources willing to play the role of pure selling it?
Longyan, Fujian, Guangxi Wuzhou, rare earth industrial base in the regional plans have been worked out. Simple processing, is clearly more willing to stay around locally.
With the transfer of rare earth mining quota, followed by the rare earth smelting processing industry put the transfer, it will be Ganzhou can not afford the loss.
The data from the Bureau of Ganzhou City, this year January to June, Ganzhou Rare Earth Industry Cluster main business revenue of 6.447 billion yuan, an increase of 82.83%. In 2009, Ganzhou City's GDP (GDP) was 94.002 billion yuan. The proportion of rare earth industry more than 10%.
Some cities and counties in Ganzhou, the importance of rare earth industry is even higher. All County is one of the mining-dominated city, in 2009, tungsten, rare earth, these three types of fluoride chemical industry's main revenue reached 5.8 billion, accounting for scale enterprises the main business income of 31.15%.
Environmental deadlock
Another sticking point is environmental problems. Quannan He Jian Bo, deputy director of the EPA believes that the use of now after the new mining technology, pollution problems have been greatly reduced. But he also acknowledged that some of the mining town near Pei village, drinking water is still contaminated state, certainly not for drinking.
Ganzhou City in the rare earth mining area, weirs can be considered a meaning with a typical sample.
Ganzhou City is located in the southernmost part of the whole County's rural towns in the whole of its reserves of rare earth has an absolute County share in the July 2009 order of rare earth mining remediation of Ganzhou City, before the Town Pei distributed within the dense 33 large and small, rare earth mining sites.
Due to the extensive mining of rare earth, resulting in large areas of vegetation damage and soil erosion, at the same time, the mining of sulfur and acid pharmaceutical wastewater pollution, making the regional water environment deteriorating rapidly.
Town not far away from the star village of Pei, the reporter saw almost all the rivers are covered with streams basically a thick layer of sediment, some villagers told reporters before last year, the village is basically no rice harvest Long straw is light now does not produce rice, yield less than a fraction of the original.
"So the fish throughout the river valley all the disappeared." Starlight Village, said some villagers, leaving them unable to accept is that the source of drinking water throughout the region, including the water plant, all are seriously polluted. Last year, hundreds of villagers here, who broke the siege of the town government events, and ultimately the government from the neighboring Guangdong drinking water to solve the problem of the villagers settled.
Lao Chen led the villagers, the reporter went to the exploitation of rare earth mining site. I saw a hundred-meter-high hill, its front all the mountain has been cut open revealing white sandy soil erosion in the rain, the whole mountain takes the shape aspect emerged in the face of gully.
Lao Chen said that this hill has been depleted rare earth mine, the next is to put next to the exploitation of the mountain.
Lao Chen finger along the direction of a hill covered with green forests greet the eyes of journalists.
Ganzhou successful you
The only hope is that they have accumulated over the use of industry resources, further than any other place, to seize the industry layout, vigorously develop the deep processing of rare earth.
This transition strategy has been brewing for a long time in Ganzhou, a tungsten, rare earth new materials-based science and technology innovation base in the export trade has long been established in Ganzhou. Ganzhou want to build in the next five years, rare earth permanent magnetic materials and permanent magnet motor base, the new light source material and energy-saving lamp base, carbide drill base and knife, starting rare earth, tungsten mineral resources reserve system, and speed up preparations for construction of mining Bank .
"Between the header and Ganzhou is the cooperation on the rare earth industry consultations between the Government, the leadership is discussing specific programs." Ganzhou City, a public letter to the Commission's staff told reporters.
Ganzhou, in terms of Baotou Steel Rare Earth once before and Minmetals Group, China Aluminum Group and other corporate giants central contact, but compared to other partners, particularly attractive header of Ganzhou. Baotou Bayan Obo rare earth ore to the control of light rare earth-based, and Ganzhou in the heavy rare earth just complementary, more importantly, in the rare earth industry in the long term operation, clad in deep processing technology of rare earth in China in a leading position This is what is most needed now in Ganzhou.
Ganzhou, the interaction with the Baotou Rare Earth has achieved initial results, other participants in the market forces Ganzhou Rare Earth has thus been driven. November 24, to enter the market for many years Ganzhou Minmetals Long County in the city set up a China Minmetals rare earth luminescent materials research and development center, a competition in downstream industry chain is started. "Must be to end the long run, down the walk, the downstream control of rare earth industry is the key to a real voice." A rare earth industry, told reporters.
However, Ganzhou can succeed? But still some doubt, "after all, belongs to the inland provinces, transport, industry support is very difficult to complete." At present, more well-known rare earth has a deep-processing technology enterprises, many in Beijing, Shanghai and other urban centers.